is this zeiss really an MK2 lens?

[daniel mahlknecht]

Hi,

I'm biding on a zeiss 12-120 t3 MK2 lens, on ebay, but now I'm not sure anymore, if it really is a MK2 lens and not an older lens (T* ?).

Maybe someone can tell me more.

 

thanks

 

daniel

[daniel mahlknecht]

I forgot, its this lens:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...I%3AIT&rd=1

[timHealy]

I forgot, its this lens:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...I%3AIT&rd=1

 

I would think it would say MKII on the lens somewhere if it was. My Zeiss 10 to 100 T2 lens says Mark II on the ring around the front element where all the other specs are. But perhaps they didn't do that on this model.

 

Best

 

Tim

[Tim Carroll]

I forgot, its this lens:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...I%3AIT&rd=1

 

That is not a Mark II Zeiss 10-100 lens. To see what a Mk II looks like, view this page from Visual Products:

Zeiss 10-100 T2 MkII zoom lens

 

The lens on the eBay auction is an old Zeiss 10-100 T3.1 lens which does not look to be in very good shape, and once converted to cover Super 16, it is a T3.8, which is a very slow lens. I have seen much better examples of that lens converted, in fact someone was selling one on eBay within the last month that was in very nice shape.

 

Hope that helps,

-Tim

[Charlie Peich]

I forgot, its this lens:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...I%3AIT&rd=1

 

 

Daniel,

This Zeiss zoom is a 10-100mm T3 lens with T* coating that was converted to a 12-120 to cover super 16. It is a mark II for that series/design of the 10-100 Vario-Sonnar Zeiss made at the time. The mark I was a T3.3 without the T* coating. That's the only difference that I'm aware of between the 2 versions, the coating and the slight increase in speed.

 

The 10-100 is very good optically and is a relatively small and compact lens. Very desirable for hand held shooting. However there is one drawback to this lens I never see mentioned when this lens is brought up. The zoom ring operates in reverse of all other "popular" zoom lenses including the later model Zeiss T2 10-100 (Zeiss corrected this with the new design).

 

What this means, all zooms go from tight to wide when you rotate the zoom ring clockwise. This Zeiss lens is just the opposite.. wide to tight. When Angenieux come out with the 1st pro zooms for 16mm, they kind of set the standard for this focal length change direction. If you had been using Angenieux zooms for a while, you became "instinctly" conditioned which way to turn the ring when you wanted to change image size. Lets say, you're shooting a very emotional interview and you want to tighten the shot, you don't have to think which way to turn the ring to tighten up, you have the "feel" and you rotate the ring counter clockwise, and your shot tightens up. If you use an assistant and have a motor on the lens, the same thing, the assistant is conditioned as to which way to push the button on the controller.

 

Now you put up this lens, and all that conditioning is thrown off. You have a complicated tracking/zoom shot, the pressure is on to get it in one take, you roll, the A.C. is following focus, getting ready to pull out at the next mark, now zoom.... oops wrong direction on the zoom. I feel this reversed zoom direction was one of the drawbacks for this lens' popularity at the time. After all, Zeiss did change this on the next model lens.

 

One other concern about the lens, there are nylon rollers in the lens that wear out after awhile. What you will see is a slight jump in focus, as in "goes out of focus then back into focus" when you change zoom direction. Example, zoom into 90mm, focus, then when you start zooming back from the 90mm, the image will pop out and back into focus. It is mostly noticeable at the longer focal lengths. It won't happen all the time, just the time when you are rolling film :o . If you just use the lens as a "variable prime" , this focus "pop" won't be an issue. Just remember to check the focus through the lens each time you change focal length. It won't matter what tape measurements you made, this is an internal mechanical problem.

 

I still have a 10-100 T3.3 and a 10-100 T2 series I. The above comments are based on my experience with the lenses. I've rebuilt or changed the rollers in the T3.3 once, and it was starting to show signs of needing repair when I decided to purchased the T2 version, that and assistants groaning every time we put the T3.3 up... the zoom direction thing <_<.

 

Charlie

[daniel mahlknecht]

Thank you, your answers were very helpfull.

I think I will stay with the starting offer, as I already have made it.

Case and filters seem nice and the price should be ok, I still can sell the angenieux afterwards.

The lens last month was in better shape and cheaper, but without T coating, + location in Hong Kong can raise the price a lot because of tax and shipping.

 

thanks again

daniel